Vehicle seat supports typically include a slide assembly which permits the seat to slide forward or rearward both for comfort and to permit the driver of the vehicle to reach the vehicle controls. As it is typical for a vehicle to be used by a number of drivers, it is important that the support mechanism be easily adjusted yet securely lock the seat in place to avoid impairing the driver's ability to control the vehicle during a sudden stop.
In addition to safety requirements, it is desirable that the manufacturing and assembly costs of the supports be minimized. In particular, the costs of tooling and perfecting the manufacturing process until parts of the desired tolerances can be reliably manufactured can be very expensive. Accordingly, it is desirable that any modification to the support assembly not require a modification of the basic seat design.
FIGS. 1 and 1a illustrate a support assembly 111 of the prior art. The assembly 111 includes a first slide mechanism 113, a second slide mechanism 115, and a lock 117. The first slide mechanism 113 includes a first support 119 defining a track and a first bracket 121 slidable along the track. The second slide mechanism similarly comprises a second support 123 defining a second track and a second bracket 125 slidable along the second track. The lock 117 includes a separate first strike member 127 secured to the first bracket 121 and a first support shaft 129 rotatably secured by a number of first shaft holders 131. The first support shaft 129 includes a first locking fork 133 engageable with the first strike member 127 to prevent relative movement of the first support 119 and the first bracket 121.
The lock further includes a second strike member (not shown) secured to the second bracket 125, a second support shaft 137 mounted by a pair of second shaft holders (not shown) and a second locking fork (not shown) extending from the second support shaft 137.
The first support shaft 129 includes a control arm portion 143 extending beyond the front end of the first bracket 121 and a control handle 145 forming a 90.degree. angle with the axis of the first support shaft. The first support shaft 129 is connected to the second support shaft 137 by means of a first spacing flange 147 connected to a second spacing flange 149 by means of a wire 151.
To prevent the inadvertent release of the lock 117, the first locking fork 133 is biased into engagement with the first strike member 127 by means of a first spring 153 biasing the first support shaft 129. Similarly, a second spring 155 biases the second support shaft 137 and therefore the second locking fork (not shown) into engagement with the second strike member (not shown) preventing relative movement of the second support 123 relative the second bracket 125.
The first support 119 and second support 123 are secured to the floor of the vehicle seat by a first pair of support attachment bolts 157 and second pair of support attachment bolts 159, respectively. Likewise, the first bracket 121 and second bracket 125 are secured to the vehicle seat by means of a first pair of bracket attachment bolts 161 and second pair of bracket attachment bolts 163.
In operation, the position of the vehicle seat is adjusted by means of rotating the horizontally inward extending control handle 145 upward from right to left as shown in FIG. 1, causing the control arm portion 143, as well as the remainder of the first support shaft 129 to rotate about its axis (as shown in FIG. 1a) disengaging the first locking fork 133 from the first strike member 127 and causing the wire 151 secured to the first spacing flange 127 to pull the second spacing flange depending downwardly from the second support shaft 137 to rotate the second support shaft 137 in a counter-clockwise direction to disengage the second locking fork 141 from the second strike member 135.
Although the aforementioned slide assembly is both simple and reliable, an improved vehicle seat support assembly would be desirable.